The Mayor of Newham has outlined the council’s pension fund management with a pledge to be open and transparent with the public markets investments.
The purpose of the Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS) is to provide retirement benefits for its members; eligible employees of local authorities and certain other public sector employers.
This means paying pensions and lump sums upon retirement, providing death benefits, and ensuring members receive a secure, defined benefit based on salary and length of employment.
The fund is managed by the Pensions Committee who have a responsibility to the members for the stewardship and management of the assets of their Pension Fund. The Iinvestment Strategy puts these assets into ‘Pooled Funds’. The committee does not invest directly into individual companies.
The Pension Fund’s Investment Strategy is published online and routinely reviewed, including for the current financial year.
Pension Fund investments are made in line with the council’s published Environmental Social Governance (ESG) policy.
Mayor of Newham Forhad Hussain said: “I was elected as Mayor on a platform to build more trust between the council and the people who live and work in this borough. The only way to do that is to be as open and transparent as possible with how we spend money or make investments.
“I am grateful to my predecessors for their stewardship of the Pension Fund and for colleagues including Cllr John Gray for his key role in the Pensions Committee over the last few years and former Councillor Sabia Kamali for all her work in this area.
“We have sound investment strategies already in place which the committee use to allocate assets into low Carbon, ESG focussed investments. We must strike balance between returning value for our members and investing ethically. We will continue to be vigilant with the fund.
“This is a council that will not just say the right things but follow through with actions.”
